?Crime? or self-defense? Iraq tries to arrest GIs

[Kyobanim]

Kaka is going to hit the fan if they don't get this straightened out soon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32136314...shington_post/

The Iraqi army seems "more and more willing to conduct operations on their own and less willing to accept our operational guidance," said the officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "But they continue to look to [us] for support. Their independence is like a 16-year-old who just got his license and doesn't want to listen anymore but still wants you to pay for the gas and the insurance and bail them out of jail" when they mess up.

and

He said he holds no ill will toward the Americans and appreciates the training and support they have given Iraq's security forces. But he said he does not want his men going on missions with U.S. forces.

"We don't need them," he said. After a pause, he added: "except for fuel."

[JimP]

There is no "SOFA" agreement; there is a "security agreement" which people keep getting confused with SOFA-like status. That's part of the problem.

IMO - we lost the issue when we agreed to process this as a law enforcement issue: "warrant-based targeting" and all that crap.

Once we limited ourselves to not being able to conduct unilateral ops, (except in a few rare cases), we lost the ball.

Dan Bolger appears NOT to share this attitude but the politicians will ultimately slap him down.